software

I recently bought one of those little Line 6 spider amps after noodling around with it in a music store. The quot;insanequot; setting sounded very cool with ridiculous sustain and distortion, really pretty nuts sounding.

Anyway, after getting it home and playing with it for a few weeks, the sound really becomes kind of absurd to the ear, like it strips away all of the character of whatever guitar I plug into it. It has basically become just kind of a novelty thing that I use for a minute or two for comic relief then just dial back in to a classic marshall style tone.

It seems like this sound has gone way beyond where you can express yourself as a guitarist and kind of like those sci-fi movies where the quot;machinequot; takes control!

What do you guys think about this type of tone?

I hate the Spider IIs, and it all starts with the insane setting. Everything about it sounds thin, digital, fake, and just plain bad. I own two modeling amps and have nothing against the higher end Line 6s, but the Spider IIs just don't sound right.

Only heard a spider once. REALLY didn't like it. Prefer my V-amp-based setup.

I agree, the Insane model is absolutly horrible. Thin, with WAY too much buzzy distortion.

I don't know if it's available on the spiders, but the one Line6 model I love is called spinal puppet. After a decent amount of tweaking here and there, I've been able to get an early 90s Soldano vibe, even close to a Lynch-like Wicked Sensation type tone. Not too bad for a modeller if you ask me. FWIW, I use the Guitar Port for bedroom practice (at bedroom volumes, I like the tone much better than my SS Fender 25watt).

The Insane setting on the Spider I I had was usable if you really throttled the gain down alot on it and tweaked the EQ to make it alot tighter.

I had mine set up from left to right for varying amounts of gain. The first patch was straight out clean. The second had a little dirt on it....loved it for Blues. The third was low-end high-gain. The last one was all-out with the Insane setting. Great for thrash riffing but for solos I would kick back to the third patch.

There's alot of good sounds in those amps. Half the fun of them is just tweaking around with them and experimenting. I kind of miss having mine around and have contemplated getting another.

The Insane model is useless. It is one of the few amp models on my PODxt that I never use. I think I switched it on once as a joke to try and get the most terrible tone imaginable (needless to say, I succeeded). It is the quot;great equalizerquot; of guitar amplification, because everyone sounds like crap when they play through it.

And yet, Line6 constantly brags about it in their literature. Even their littlest Spider II amps say quot;6 amp models including Line6 Insanequot; like it's some kind of selling feature. I guess someone must like it ... and if I ever meet this person I hope I never have to hear them play.

Oh, and MikeS, 1 on the Spinal Puppet model. I really like that one.

ratherdashing... I'd bet it's a marketing ploy on Line6's part. Like it or not, we live in a quot;bigger is betterquot; society, and if by bragging about the insane model and how much over-the-top distortion it has sells their product, I can't fault them for doing so.

I've never been able to stomach anything the insane model has done... tonight, I might screw around with it a bit to see if any good can come of it... but I won't be holding my breathe while doing so.

I dunno. I don't have much use for over-the-top gain these days. When using the amp models in my XTL, I'm a lot more inclined to use the ones based on real-life amps.

Sounds like its one of those features to make it seem kickass at the store. By the time you're sick of it, you've already taken it home.

I think the Insane channel might help sell a line 6 to a 13 yr old kid who wants the amp because it sounds so INSANE and his daddy will pay for it.

I like the Insane model for just jamming at home, it makes pinch harmonics jump out like crazy, but I haven't found a lot of use for it live. It loses a lot of relative volume and it seems like it's loses the high amp; low end as well.

Wow! Today I was tossing around the idea of getting rid of my spider amp, but I needed that little quot;nudgequot;. What a sign!

I used to like the insane when I first bought it. I have recently replaced my Gibson pickups with EMG 81 amp; 85 on my LP. I can't tell the difference through the insane setting, or any other setting really. I am done with this amp. From what I've seen, the spider II are a lot better, though, but I might be done with Line6

The insane model on Line 6 products is by for the worst and stupidest of them all.

I like most of the others.


Originally Posted by nahfutenFrom what I've seen, the spider II are a lot better, though, but I might be done with Line6

Don't pass judgement on all of their products based on the Spider, it's nothing like their other stuff IMO. For one, it doesn't even have any quot;real ampquot; models, but instead only uses the Line 6 original creations which I was never a big fan of (even on the nicer pieces like the Vetta and PODxt Pro).

Cheap Line 6 gear is complete crap compared to the good stuff. I own 2 Duoverbs and they sound 3000000x better than my friend's spider. The vetta series is also supposed to be good but the complexity of the user interface scares me away. That being said, dont judge line 6 or other modeling amps by one or two bad settings.

The insane preset on my POD is horrible. It's saturated so much that it's just a fuzz and they even added flanger to make it sound even more synthetic

Egghh....

Yep, i think the insane setting on my POD and all line 6 products is absolute crap. They might as well just have called it quot;cheesequot;

I thought the Insane model on my POD 2.0 was pretty good....over the top but that's what it was supposed to be. It was Soldano'ish but with a Mesa brutality....just like the manual said kind of....

imo the insane setting sucks on about everything(vetta II,spiderII and über metal are the things i've tried) it's just insane and not really useable. But hey, pods and the vetta include so many nice models way ***** about one that sucks?


Originally Posted by Young AngusYep, i think the insane setting on my POD and all line 6 products is absolute crap. They might as well just have called it quot;cheesequot;

1 to that, I never ever use the insane model on my XT ...usually for solo's
and rhythm ill use something based on a marshall or a mesa. chris